News Segment

A 40th anniversary re-recording of the Amboy Dukes hit “Journey to the Center of the Mind” is among the highlights of “Love Grenade,” Ted Nugent’s first set of new material in five years.

The 13-song set, co-produced by Night Ranger’s Jack Blades, Nugent’s partner in the long-dormant Damn Yankees, is due in August on Eagle Rock. The title track, which is the album’s first single, is slated to premiere on Friday.

In typical hyperbolic fashion, the Motor City Madman tells Billboard.com that “Love Grenade” “is an absolute representation of where I am on all levels. We come from the old school of sh*tkicker, R&B-driven, grinding guitar lovemaster. When you hear it, you’re gonna just smile, close your eyes and go, ‘Nugent!’ It’s such a classic piece of what we were brought up on.”

Among the new tracks are songs that Nugent has been performing live for several years, including “Still Raising Hell,” “Bridge Over Troubled Daughters” and “Funk U.” The album also includes “Lay With Me,” which Nugent calls “a late-night blues impromptu,” “Geronimo and Me” and “Spirit of the Buffalo,” which he describes as “a new ‘Fred Bear'”-style hunting and nature anthem.

The new “Journey to the Center of the Mind,” meanwhile, is “just ferocious,” according to Nugent. “It’s probably more sassy than the original, which is really quite a bold, brazen claim. The Amboy Dukes were the quintessential garage band. I wanted to play homage to the privilege of somehow landing in that camp.”

Nugent is on the road now and will be touring into early September, after which he concentrates on hunting. He’s also talking with Toby Keith about a role in the country star’s film adaptation of his hit “Beer For My Horses,” which may begin filming this winter.